Contact lenses comprising water soluble N-(2 hydroxyalkyl) (meth)acrylamide polymers or copolymers

Abstract

The present invention relates to biomedical devices, and particularly contact lenses comprising a polymer having entangled therein at least one polymer comprising repeating units from N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)(meth)acrylamide.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising contacting a biomedical device formed from a hydrogel with a solution comprising at least one water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer comprising less than 20 mol % anionic repeating units and repeating units derived from N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)(meth)acrylamide of Formula I 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       Wherein R 1  is hydrogen or methyl,
 R 2  is H or a C1-4 alkyl substituted with at least one hydroxyl group; and 
 R 3  is a C1-4 alkyl substituted with at least one hydroxyl group; 
 
       wherein said water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization of about 100 to about 100,000 and is free of terminal, hydrophobic polymer blocks under conditions sufficient to incorporate a lubricious effective amount of said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer in said biomedical device. 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein said hydrogel is uncharged. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein said device is a contact lens and said hydrogel comprises at least one hydrophilic component. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization between about 500 and about 10,000. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is linear or branched. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization between about 500 and about 7,500. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization between about 500 and about 2000. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is not cross-linked. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is free of repeating units capable of crosslinking under free radical polymerization conditions. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is free of repeating units derived from bioactive linker group. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is either a homopolymer or a random copolymer. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer comprises less than about 10 mol % anionic repeating units. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1  wherein said non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is non-ionic. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1  wherein R 3  is selected from the group consisting of, 2-hydroxypropyl, 3-hydroxypropyl, 2,3-dihydroxypropyl, 4-hydroxy butyl, 2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1  wherein said N-(2-hydroxyalky)(meth)acrylamide is selected from the group consisting of N-(2-hydroxy propyl)(meth)acrylamide, N-(3-hydroxypropyl)(meth)acrylamide, N-(2-hydroxyethyl)(meth)acrylamide, and 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       And mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1  wherein said N-(2-hydroxyalky)(meth)acrylamide is selected from the group consisting of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)(meth)acrylamide, and N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)acrylamide. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 1  wherein said N-(2-hydroxyalky)(meth)acrylamide comprises N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 1  wherein said solution comprises between about 0.001 and about 10% N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)(meth)acrylamide polymer, based upon all components in the solution. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 1  wherein said solution comprises between about 0.005 and about 2% N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)(meth)acrylamide polymer, based upon all components in the solution. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 1  wherein said contacting step further comprises heating. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 20  wherein said heating comprising autoclaving. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21  wherein said device is a contact lens and said solution is a packing solution. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 20  wherein said contacting step comprises heating at temperatures between about 40 and about 100° C. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 1  wherein said solution comprises a buffered solution selected from the group consisting of borate buffer and phosphate buffer. 
     
     
       25. An ophthalmic solution comprising between about 10 ppm and about 10 wt % at least one water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer comprising less than 20 mol % anionic repeating units and repeating units derived from N-(2-hydroxyalkyl)(meth)acrylamide of Formula I 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       Wherein R 1  is hydrogen or methyl,
 R 2  is H or a C 1-4  alkyl substituted with at least one hydroxyl group; and 
 R 3  is a C 1-4  alkyl substituted with at least one hydroxyl group; 
 
       wherein said water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization of about 100 to about 100,000 and is free of terminal, hydrophobic polymer blocks. 
     
     
       26. The solution of  claim 25  wherein said water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is present in a concentration of about 50 ppm and about 2 wt %, based upon all components in the solution. 
     
     
       27. The solution of  claim 25  wherein said water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer is present in a concentration of about 100 ppm and about 5,000 ppm. 
     
     
       28. The solution of  claim 25 , wherein said solution is selected from the group consisting of saline solutions, buffered solutions, and deionized water. 
     
     
       29. The solution of  28 , wherein said solution is a saline solution comprising salts selected from the group consisting sodium chloride, sodium borate, sodium phosphate, sodium hydrogenphosphate, sodium dihydrogenphosphate, and corresponding potassium salts thereof. 
     
     
       30. The solution of  28 , wherein said water soluble, non-reactive hydrophilic polymer has a degree of polymerization between about 100 and about 100,000.